Page 47 of The Alien's Major Dilemma

"Shit," she gasped when she'd taken in the damage. "You're bleeding again. We need to get the Doc. What happened to your toes?"

He nodded and let out another slow breath. "Probably need to be re-wrapped," he said.

"Major," one of the guards called from the door. "Time to get up and moving if you're awake."

"I don't think-" she started but Cooper cut her off.

"I can walk," he said. "Probably not running any time soon but if you can help me up, I can walk."

She nodded. "I can do that."

"Major, if you'll come to the door, one of us will get him situated," the guard called.

"John, I can handle this," she told him.

"All due respect ma'am, you still look like shit. Let us do our job, alright?"

Cooper could see the indecision in her eyes and smiled. "You look good enough to eat but I also know that you're still exhausted. And still technically a prisoner until they get us cleared. Let someone else help me to my feet and we can deal with that."

She pushed herself to her feet and wobbled slightly before she walked to the door. The guard she'd addressed as John opened the door and let her out into the corridor before coming in and crouching down in front of him.

"I'm going to help you sit, first," he said. "Then I'll help you to your feet. Easiest way to do it without reopening your injuries. You okay with that?"

"It'd be easier with my hands free but I think that all makes sense. Thanks for your help."

"Welcome," John said and slid his arms under him to help him sit. Then he stood behind him and lifted.

Most of his weight balanced on his heels until he slowly let it onto the rest of his feet. He wobbled more than Marissa had but could hold himself upright when John's hands fell away.

"Can you walk?" John asked.

"Slowly," Cooper said. "Are we expected somewhere?"

"Yeah, the Doc bought you time to get some shut eye but we're at the base and they want to get you debriefed."

"How long did we sleep?" Marissa asked. She'd been looking around for something.

"A few hours," one of the other guards answered. "Doc said to let you get eight solid if you could."

"I didn't think we had that kind of time," Marissa said.

"Things got complicated."

Cooper snorted and started to walk gingerly toward the door with John at his back. His shoulders ached and his feet throbbed but he wanted to do as much as he could under his own power for now.

"Things are always complicated," he said.

"Yeah, well, this is a bit more than we were expecting. We've got situations developing all over the world and some of the aliens aren't exactly happy with you running off with one of their toys."

Cooper swore under his breath. "I need to get my ship back."

"On the agenda," John assured him. "Along with a couple dozen other things that can't happen until you've both been debriefed."

They moved as quickly as they could down the corridor, which wasn't all that fast, and Marissa kept turning to look at him. He could feel the worry coming off of her and he adored her for it.

As abrupt and painful as his wake-up had been, he felt better than he would have if he'd been recovering on his own, and he could already feel the regrowth process starting.

There was definitely more than one benefit to sleeping with his mate.

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